Jika-tabi

Jika-tabi (地下足袋, "tabi that contact the ground") is a type of outdoor footwear worn in Japan. It was invented in the early 20th century. Also known (outside Japan) as "tabi boots", they are modelled on tabi, traditional split-toe Japanese socks. Like other tabi, jika-tabi have a divided toe area so that they can in theory be worn with slip-on thonged footwear, but they are heavy-duty, and resemble boots.

Tokujirō Ishibashi, a brother of Shōjirō Ishibashi who is the founder of the major tire company Bridgestone Corporation, is credited with their invention.

In Japan
A construction worker wearing jika-tabi and tobi trousers
Steel-toed jika-tabi
Jika-tabi allow this gardener to grip his ladder
Early 20th-century marathon tabi

Being made of heavy, tough material and often having rubber soles, jika-tabi are often used by construction workers, farmers and gardeners, rickshaw-pullers, and other workmen.

Though slowly being replaced by steel-toed, rigid-sole shoes in some industries, many workers prefer them for the softness of their soles. This gives wearers tactile contact with the ground, and the concomitant gripping ability lets them use their feet more agilely than rigid-soled shoes allow. This is useful for workers who traverse girders on construction sites and need to be sure what is under their feet. Carpenters and gardeners wearing these boots can, if they wish, use their feet as an extra pair of hands, for example to hold objects in place. There is also a type of knee-high all-rubber jika-tabi that is used by workers in rice fields and/or wet and muddy environments (see picture).

In more recent years, some jika-tabi manufacturers, like Marugo and Rikio, have introduced the "steel toe" and "hard resin" versions (see picture) which are approved by the Japan Occupational Safety and Health Resource Center.

A variation on the jika-tabi, called the matsuri tabi, is so called because it is most commonly worn during festivals. It differs from the regular jika-tabi in having extra cushioning for the sole.

In other countries

Outside Japan, jika-tabi are available from online and martial-arts shops, and are used by practitioners of the martial art of Bujinkan budo taijutsu, especially when training outdoors. Other people also like wearing them for certain kinds of exercise, specifically trail-running, walking, and climbing.

In recent years, jika-tabi have been seen in Hollywood movie productions. Examples include The Wolverine, 47 Ronin, Big Hero 6, Star Trek, and Thor: The Dark World. Also worn in short movie Anima from Thom Yorke (2019).

World War II

During the 1942 Battle of Milne Bay in Papua (now part of Papua New Guinea), the Allies of World War II first saw Japanese Kaigun Tokubetsu Rikusentai (Special Naval Landing Forces) in action. The distinctive boot tread pattern of the jika-tabi shoes used by the Japanese special forces was helpful to the Allies (mostly Australian troops with some American units) during the rout and mopping up operation, as it was easy to identify and follow through the muddy forests. Examples of the boots are held by the Australian War Memorial.[1]

References
  1. WWII Japanese 'otherworldly' jika-tabi boots on display at Australian War Memorial, Louise Maher, ABC News Online, 2017-09-26
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